Well packer



I. DAETWILER Jan. 15, 1952 WELL PACKER Filed Sept. 1, 1950 INVENTOR ATTORNEYS Patented Jan. 15, 1952 V UNITED TES s im; was ntel igent?" stung??? 'A plica tionficptember 1, 1950, Serial No. 182,790

'1 te s ere!!! f, invention relates. to. anew and. improyed I well packer adapted/to; perform the 'usualliuncr tion of such. a devicefbutgso,constructedlthat a izeswilli supply all .commoi'r size. require,-

. he, principal obj ect. of .the. invention is to. pro;- videj'an ,iimproved. construction which includes; 'a cfia berffilledgwith compressed gas, anj expa i blf 'cket; and. novel meanswhereby theifcomrpir sedfga's ,maybe. released from saidcharnber and"adiriitted'to. s a. 'e'xpansiblel acket to, xpand. the. latternmd tightly against 'the. sur manage. Casing or lvvall ofifthe. en. A further Objgfi is 'toiembcdy upperand lower tubular members "in. the. construction, to make iovisi'or'rwhereby"rent rs mevem nt 'of tubular members will ei'fectr v H ejinenacn'a 'gssjrmmj said. cha her, anditq. provide readily, releasable means. rorjnqr au holding said members against. saidl relative m eme other object. is to, provide the aforesaid. re.- leasable .meansintherorm ofa sfiall pill vvliigli may b'cut "or broken by relative sliding of the above mentioned tubular. members when the Pac r h s. b n. lett red o he requ dd p *Yet another object is to makenovel provis'ion.

whereby the compressed gas "may be released from the aforesaid expan'sible jacket to deflate the latter if the packer is togbe withdrawn.

: Aa i -fwihe Q ie fi. sia r vi RRWIBQ- 51e, disk which releases the gas frpm thejacket when iriipturd; d 9 whence; v pam rupturing said disk.

Yet another object is to provide a novel construction which may be easily reconditioned for further use after withdrawal from a well.

Fig. 1 of the accompanying drawing is a view partly in elevation and partly in longitudinal section showing the improved packer coupled to s'uperjacent and subjacent pipe sections, the parts being in their normal relative positions for lowering into a well.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary view, similar to a portion of Fig. 1, but showing the compressed gas released and entering the expansible jacket to expand the latter.

Fig. 3 is a detail vertical sectional view showing the manner of releasing the gas from the jacket if the packer is to be withdrawn from the-well.

A preferred construction has been disclosed and will be rather specifically described,- but variations may well be made within the scope of the invention. 7

An upper tubular member 4 is provided having agthrea ded upper end 5, tobe coupled attztc a. pipefsection l, and. a lower tubular member 8. isfal'solproyided, said lower member '8 havinga threaded lower end '9. to. be, coupled at I 91 to a pipe section LI. The, lower end. I21 of the upper member its internally enlarged and the, upper, end"l 3 oi lower 'member 8 is reduced, in rder hat ese. e may e. sleiscope shown. An upper elastic seal ring Misdislposed between th u per e tremi y of, hemerp ei; 3 and a shoulder 15,. on member '4, and a lower elastic seal. ring [5 positioned between the, lower endpf 'member 14 and; a. shoulder if! on member 8. Both seal rings are preferably of rubber bonded to all surfacesv with whichthey contact in a manner, known as welding. The

seal rings will yield to permitrelative inward sliding of the members {and 8.,whehreq1iired, 'for al purpose toap pear, but end slidingis normally prevented by 'a shear pin 18 whichconne'c't's the telescopedj ends of said members 4 "A'sl'eeve l9 surrounds themember 8 and the adjacent end of thememb'er 4, saidsleeve being spaced outwardly from said members. The lower.

end'o'f this'sleev'e l91is' closed and is gas tightly; joined atZil to 'the' member: Bfwhil theupper' end' o'f said sleeve is open at-2]. This end of the sleeve is'pro'vided with'an internal 'clrcumfer enti'ally' extending valve seat 22* which faces downwardly. The member '4, is formed with'an externalcircumferential valve '23 which faces upwardlyand gas" tightly contacts with'jthe seat 22; "The space below the valve and seat constitutes a chamber 24 for compressed gas, and a gas injection valve for said chamber is indicated at 25 in Fig. 1.

An expansible jacket 26, preferably formed from rubber, surrounds the member 4 and at its upper end is gas-tightly secured to said member, as indicated at 21. The lower end of the jacket 26 surrounds the upper end of the sleeve [9 and is gas tightly secured at 28 to said sleeve. In securing the ends of the jacket, bonding known as welding is preferably employed.

From Fig. 1 it will be seen that the jacket 26 is normally prevented from communicating with the gas chamber 24, by the valve 23 and seat 22, allowing lowering of the packer into a well with said jacket in contracted condition. However, when the packer has been lowered to the required depth, such relative inward sliding of the tubular members 4 and 8 as to cut or break the pin l8 and open the valve 23 (Fig. 2) may be efiected. The compressed gas from the chamber 24 then discharges through the open end 2| of the sleeve striker 32 is mounted in position to strike the disk 3| and break or rupture the latter when required (Fig. 3), thereby permitting escape of the gas from the jacket 26 to effect contraction of the latter if the packer is to be withdrawn from the well.

The striker 32 preferably comprises an arm 33 pivotally hung at 34 in the member 4, the lower end of said arm having a lateral spur 35 to strike the disk 30. The arm 33 has a cam portion 36 to be struck by an object 31 lowered into the member 4 to swing said arm and break or rupture the disk 30, as seen inFig. 3.

After withdrawal of the packer from the well, it may be easily conditioned for further use, by simply replacing the ruptured disk with a new disk, and recharging the chamber 24 with compressed gas.

From the foregoing it will be seen that effective provision has been disclosed for attaining the desired ends, but attention is again invited to the possibility of making variations.

I claim:

1. In a well packer, an upper tubular member having coupling means at its upper end, a lower tubular member having coupling means at its lower end, the lower end of said upper tubular member and the upper end of said lower tubular member being slidably and gas-tightly telescoped with each other, releasable means connecting said telescoped ends and normally holding them against relative sliding, a sleeve surrounding and spaced outwardly from said telescoped ends, the lower end of said sleeve being closed and secured to said lower tubular member, the upper end of said sleeve being open and having an internal circumferentially extending downwardly facing valve seat, said upper tubular member being provided with an external;circumferential upwardly facing valve normally contacting with said valve seat, said sleeve, said valve seat, and said valve providing a compressed gas chamber between said sleeve and said tubular members, and an expansible jacket surrounding said upper tubular member and having its upper end gas-tightly secured to said upper tubular member, the lower end of said jacket being gas-tightly secured to the upper end of said sleeve; whereby upon release of said releasable means and downward movement of said valve from said seat, compressed gas from said gas chamber will fill and expand said expansible jacket.

2. A structure as specified in claim 1; said releasable means consisting of a shear pin connecting said telescoped ends of said tubular members.

3. A structure as specified in claim 1; in which an elastic sealing ring seals said telescoped ends of said tubular members gas tightly, said lower member having an upwardly facing surface contacting with the lower edge of said elastic sealing ring, said upper member having a downwardly facing surface contacting with the upper edge of said elastic sealing ring.

4. A well packer as in claim 1, wherein, a gasexpanded jacket surrounds the upper member, being connected at its upper end to said upper member and connected at its lower end to the upper end of said sleeve, said member having an escape passage for the gas within said jacket, a disk normally closing said passage gas tightly, and a striker mounted in the upper member to rupture said disk when operated.

5. A well packer as in claim 4; wherein said striker has an actuating portion extending into the interior of said tubular member to be struck by an object lowered into said member.

6. A well packer as in claim 4; wherein said striker comprises an arm pivotally hung in said tubular member and having a lateral projection at its lower end to strike said disk.

7. A well packer as in claim 4; wherein means is provided for detachably securing said disk in place to permit replacement thereof.

IRVEN DAETWILER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the ,file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,116,465 Patterson May 3, 1938 2,177,601 Smith Oct. 24, 1939 2,207,001 Dillon July 9, 1940 

